Fears of a new intifada growing

Tuesday

Feb 26, 2013 at 12:01 AMFeb 26, 2013 at 12:53 PM

SE'EER, West Bank - Masked Palestinian gunmen fired in the air and youths clashed with police yesterday as thousands marched at the West Bank funeral of a prisoner after days of rioting that have stoked Israeli fears of a new uprising.

SE'EER, West Bank - Masked Palestinian gunmen fired in the air and youths clashed with police yesterday as thousands marched at the West Bank funeral of a prisoner after days of rioting that have stoked Israeli fears of a new uprising.

Israeli police shot and wounded five Palestinian youths during confrontations in Bethlehem and outside a West Bank prison, leaving one 15-year-old boy in critical condition, Israeli and Palestinian medical sources said.

Arafat Jaradat's death in disputed circumstances in an Israeli jail on Saturday, together with a hunger strike by four other Palestinian inmates, have fueled mounting tensions, a month ahead of a visit to the region by U.S. President Barack Obama.

On the roof of Jaradat's home in the village of Se'eer, masked Palestinians fired volleys of automatic gunfire into the air in tribute, as dozens of Israeli troops gathered on the outskirts of town.

Elsewhere, other youths were wounded by rubber bullets and suffered tear-gas inhalation during the latest in a week of clashes that have raised memories of the intifada, Arabic for uprising, that started in 2000 after Israeli-Palestinian peace talks failed.

A previous intifada, in 1987-1993, led to interim accords and limited Palestinian self-rule.

"The previous two intifadas … came about as a result of a high number of dead (during protests)," Dichter told Israel Radio. "Fatalities are almost a proven recipe for a sharper escalation."

The Israeli military said dozens of Palestinians threw stones at soldiers across the West Bank yesterday. Troops responded with tear gas and stun grenades, the army said.

A source in the Israeli military said its forces had used live ammunition in some cases where they considered protesters a lethal threat.

Jaradat, 30, was arrested a week ago for throwing stones at Israeli cars in the West Bank.

Palestinian officials said he had died after being tortured in prison. But Israel said an autopsy carried out in the presence of a Palestinian coroner was inconclusive.

Palestinian frustration has been fueled by Israel's expansion of settlements in the West Bank, stalled peace negotiations and a rift between President Mahmoud Abbas' Palestinian Authority and the armed Islamists of Hamas who run Gaza and reject coexistence with the Jewish state.

"We have no choice but to continue the popular resistance and escalate it in the face of the occupation, whether it be the army or the settlers," Mahmoud Aloul, a senior member of Abbas' Fatah movement, said.

Abbas has said he will not allow a third armed intifada. The president led a meeting of his top security officials as clashes continued into last night, instructing them "to preserve the safety and security of citizens," state media said.

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